The Half Wolf's Mate
by Kallanit
Summary: After the Second Voldemort Blood War, Hermione Granger decides to move on from Britain. In the meantime, circumstances change among certain Weasleys. How does this affect Hermione?
1. Meeting an Old Friend

**Disclaimer:** Not mine, don't own it – I wish! Unfortunately, Harry Potter belongs to JKR and not to me; I'm just playing in her sandbox.

 **Author's Notes:**

» This story is unbetaed, so I hope there won't be too many typos or other errors.

» This story is written for pfanna, who wanted a Bill/Hermione story and who gave me the idea for this. In actual fact, pfanna wanted a story with Hermione yelling at Harry for not showing her any consideration after they escaped from Malfoy Manor and I started writing this story with that in mind. Then I reread the relevant chapters and noticed that Harry did actually show her consideration, so I changed it slightly. Thanks to pfanna for looking over the story for me.

» Thank you to Ms. Anthrop for letting me snitch the idea of Hermione undertaking a Mastery in Magical Librarianship at the Library of Alexandria from her story, _Mistress of the Stacks_ , although Ms. Anthrop takes her inspiration regarding magical libraries from Garth Nix's _Old Kingdom_ series, whereas I look more to Terry Pratchett's _Discworld_ series. I was probably influenced by _Mistress of the Stacks_ as well.

.o.O.o.

 **MEETING AN OLD FRIEND**

Bill Weasley walked into the Ancient Magical Library of Alexandria. He had been assigned to a project in Egypt by Gringotts and needed to use the resources of this library for research. Of course, this was not the new, modern Bibliotheca Alexandrina that the Muggles were building, but the Ancient Library of Alexandria, which the Muggles believed had been destroyed in ancient times. In fact, the Ancient Magical Library of Alexandria—indeed, the entire Musaeum of Alexandria, of which the ancient library was but one part—had been largely hidden from the Muggles long before the destruction of the last remaining section, which was wholly Muggle in nature.

Pausing at the information desk, Bill asked for assistance and was pointed in the direction of what he hoped would be the relevant section. This library was enormous and he did not fancy having to search through every section for the information he needed, as that could take weeks, which he did not have. Approaching the section to which he had been directed, Bill took note of a petite witch, who was dressed in robes which identified her as a librarian. The witch was busy shelving books and scrolls, so all Bill could see was a view of her rear, which seemed to be comprised mostly of thick, bushy brown hair, which had been wrestled into a hair tie and was falling in a long tail down her back. This immediately made Bill think of Hermione Granger, who he had not seen since the end of the Second Voldemort Blood War. Hermione had left Britain immediately after the war and had not stayed in contact with her friends in the British Wizarding World.

"Excuse me," said Bill in Arabic. The witch turned round and Bill gasped in astonishment. "Hermione!"

The witch's eyes grew large. "Bill," she said faintly. "What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing!" he joked in reply. "How are you, Hermione?" he asked, growing serious. "Why did you just leave? We've been worried about you?"

"We?" asked Hermione skeptically. "Who is we?"

"Well, all of us…" he faltered.

Hermione snorted in disbelief, much to Bill's surprise. Trying to change the subject, she asked, "Can I help you, Bill? I'm sorry to be so abrupt, but I'm afraid I'm quite busy. I'm happy to be of assistance, of course, but I don't really have time to chat."

"Well, will you meet me later? What time do you finish work?" he asked eagerly. "Please," he added, sensing she was about to refuse.

"All right," Hermione caved in, figuring that if she did not agree to meet Bill, he would simply come back again and again until she did. "Meet me outside the main entrance when the library closes. In the meantime, how can I help you?"

Bill explained what he was looking for and Hermione helped him find the information he needed. Leaving Bill engrossed in a large number of books and scrolls, Hermione went back to work, trying very hard to ignore the red-headed man sitting working at a reading table near her desk.

At the end of the day, as Hermione exited the building, Bill was standing waiting for her at the foot of the steps. With a quick farewell to her colleagues, Hermione headed over to Bill.

"Hi," she said shyly.

"Good evening," said Bill with an appreciative grin. Hermione had removed her work robes and was now clad in everyday clothes that flattered the curvaceous witch's figure perfectly.

"Would you like to go somewhere Muggle, or would you prefer to remain in the Magical Quarter?" he asked.

"I'd rather remain here, if you don't mind. It's been a long day, so it would be nice to go somewhere nearby, where I can easily floo home from afterwards. If that's all right with you?"

"That's perfect," answered Bill. "If you really don't mind not going Muggle, then I'd like to take you to a restaurant I used to go to frequently when I was last stationed here. It's not the poshest of restaurants but the food is excellent."

"Of course, I don't mind. I don't care if the restaurant is Muggle or Magical, as long as it has good food and is nearby. Lead on," Hermione replied.

Bill escorted Hermione to the restaurant, which he knew well from the last time he had been stationed in Egypt. He was given a warm welcome, which was extended to Hermione when Bill introduced her to the owners. Giving Bill a knowing grin, the owner ushered them to a table.

"This is nice," said Hermione looking around in appreciation. "I haven't been here before."

"Then you're in for a treat," Bill grinned. "Will you trust me to order for you?"

Hermione nodded and Bill summoned over the owner. After a brief, rapid conversation, the owner departed kitchewards and Bill turned back to Hermoine. "I asked Basim to bring us his pick for this evening. He's never steered me wrong yet."

It was not long before Basim brought out plates of aromatic, spicy, moist and tender roast lamb. This was accompanied by crisp salads, various dips and steaming hot pita bread. Hermione tasted the lamb and hummed in appeciation.

"Oh, that's good," she moaned in pleasure. "I'll have to come back here again."

"So, what are you doing in Egypt?" Bill asked as they ate.

"It's a long story," Hermione warned.

"I have all the time in the world."

"Don't you have to get back to Fleur?" asked Hermione in surprise. "Or is she back in Britain?"

A shadow crossed Bill's face, but he replied cheerily. "Oh, no. I asked first."

"Boys!" muttered Hermione rolling her eyes, and Bill laughed.

"So are you going to tell me?"

"All right," Hermione sighed. "The short version is that I'm undertaking a Mastery in Magical Librarianship at the Ancient Magical Library of Alexandria. My parents moved to the States during the war…"

"I thought you hid them in Australia?" Bill interrupted.

"That's what I told everyone," Hermione agreed. "I was worried about the connection between Harry and Voldemort. We didn't know what it was, or how much Voldemort could glean from Harry's mind—Dumbledore conveniently kept that information to himself—so I lied to Ron and Harry about where my parents were. I had to tell them both the same story, you see."

"That was probably a wise decision," Bill concurred.

"Anyway," Hermione continued with a nod of agreement. "After the war, I went to the States to be with Mum and Dad. I needed to get away for a while and, quite frankly, I missed my parents. I'd spent most of my time in the wizarding world over the previous few years because it was safer for me to be behind wards during the war, which meant I hadn't spent very much time with Mum and Dad, and I wanted to make up for lost time. You know my parents are Muggle Healers?"

"Dentists, right?"

Hermione nodded. "My dad is teaching at the Harvard University, and my mum is working at Boston Children's Hospital. We figured that Boston has a large enough population that they wouldn't stand out, so they'd still be able to continue practising as dentists under their own names, as it was too complicated to set up false identities for them that would include their qualifications and work history—it's doable, but none of us knew how to do it, especially at reasonably short notice. They didn't want to open their own practice, though, as they felt that hanging a shingle on the door saying Granger Dental Surgery would be asking for trouble. They have an unlisted home phone number, so their home address can't be found in the telephone directory, and without a dental practice in their name, anyone looking for them would either have to go into every single dental practice and hospital across the States and ask for the names of the partners, or else contact every state or local dental society and ask for a list of registered dentists."

Hermione flushed in embarrassment. She knew what she was about to say would not go down well with Harry or Ron, and she was not sure if Bill would react in the same way as her erstwhile friends would. "I asked Professor Snape if the Death Eaters knew how to navigate the Muggle world. I explained my parents would be going into hiding, though I didn't tell him where or when, and he told me that he was the only one familiar enough with the Muggle world to be able to find someone who wasn't where they were expected to be. He was quite sure that as long as we didn't make it obvious where they were, then if they were found by Death Eaters it would be due to bad luck rather than design."

"Yes…" said Bill slowly, as he considered what Hermione had said. "It was probably a good idea to check that with Professor Snape."

Hermione nodded and continued her story. "Mum and Dad moved during the Christmas holidays in my fifth year. Harry and Ron thought my parents were going on a skiing holiday but the plan was that they would be moving and I would go with to help them. Then your Dad was attacked by Nagini and I ended up going straight to Grimmauld Place instead. It was probably safer that they leave on their own without me, anyway, just in case anyone was watching me," she mused.

"Once I joined them after the war, I contacted some of the American schools of magic to see about finishing my high school education. The schools weren't surprised to hear from me," she said wryly. "I wasn't exactly the first Brit to have contacted them during or after the war. One of the schools was happy for me to study from home, and let me portkey in a couple of times a week to use the library and meet with the professors if I needed to. The librarian was very helpful and I spent a lot of time talking to her. Did you know that it's necessary to have a Mastery to become a magical librarian?"

Bill shook his head and Hermione smiled. "Neither did I," she replied. "Perhaps if Madam Pince had been slightly more approachable… Never mind, it's not important now. Mistress Curtis was much more informative. If you ever went into the Restricted Section at Hogwarts, did you happen to notice how the books can get restless? Or perhaps hear a whispering coming from them? Or did they ever react to your presence? Magical books absorb a certain amount of magic from the spells contained within them, from the ambient magic in the atmosphere around them and even from each other, which is why the books in the Restricted Section are the most.. sentient, I guess would be the best way to describe it. Those are the books in the Hogwarts library with the strongest magic in them. Magical books have to be kept under rigid control, and it takes training and power to do so. Not everyone is skilled or capable enough to constrain a large collection. What Mistress Curtis told me about magical libraries fascinated me, so I started looking into it. I'm sure you know you normally have to apply to a Master years in advance if you want to undertake a Mastery? Well, Mistress Curtis explained that to obtain a Mastery in Magical Librarianship or Curatorship, you're usually apprenticing with the institution rather than with an individual Master, so you have a better chance of being taken on at shorter notice if it's a large enough institution. I applied to a number of libraries and was actually offered apprenticeships by all of them. I couldn't resist coming here, though, because it's such an ancient collection."

"Are your parents back in Britain now?"

"No, they decided to stay in America. They're happy there. And I'm thinking of applying for a position in the magical section of the Library of Congress when I've finished my apprenticeship. If I get the job, I won't be far from Mum and Dad, but we won't be in each other's pockets either."

"Why haven't you been in touch, Hermione?"

"Oh, no. I answered your question. Now it's my turn," Hermione laughed, deftly changing the subject. "Why are you in Egypt? I thought you were firmly settled in Britain these days."

Bill made a face. "Fleur and I split up. I decided to transfer back here when I needed a break from Mum."

"I'm sorry to hear that. What happened—no, that's none of my business. Was it amicable, at least?"

"What do you know about Veela and werewolves?"

Hermione sat back in her chair. "Not much about Veela. As for werewolves… I thought you didn't transform?"

"No, I don't," replied Bill with a sigh. "But I have more werewolf traits in me than I realised at first. Veela and werewolves have one significant thing in common: while most of us meet our partners and fall in love in the same way as any other human being, a spontaneous mating bond occasionally occurs. Once that happens, we're mated for life and can't be with anyone else. Our inner wolf or veela won't allow it. Fleur went to visit her family in France after the war and, while she was there, she met an old childhood friend and they bonded."

"Why didn't they bond earlier, if they're old friends?" asked Hermione skeptically.

"She hadn't seen him since they were young. The bond won't happen until after puberty, when the body is physically ready for it."

"How are you? Are you all right? I don't suppose I need to ask how Molly took it, given that you needed a break from her?"

Bill snorted a laugh. "No, you really don't. Mum hasn't stopped nagging me about finding someone else—she keeps trying to set me up with people, all of them as different to Fleur as she can find—but I'm not ready for that. I've seen Fleur and Boniface together and I want a chance to try and find that for myself."

"Surely Molly can understand that? No matter how desperate she is for grandchildren!"

Bill shook his head wryly. "She keeps telling me not to be ridiculous, that I'm not a werewolf. She doesn't want to accept that Greyback's attack had greater consequences than merely giving me a few scars and a liking for very raw steak. I couldn't cope with the nagging, so I put in for a transfer. I did a couple of other projects in different countries before Gringotts finally transferred me here, but I'm hoping this will be my home base from now on, even if the goblins need me for other projects elsewhere from time to time."

"So, you're going to be here for a while?"

"Indefinitely, I should think."

"So… would you perhaps like to spend some more time with me?" asked Hermione coyly.

"I'd love to," replied Bill warmly.

The two returned their attention to their meal as Basim smiled genially upon the young couple. _'Young love,'_ he thought to himself.

"Will you tell me why you haven't been in touch since you left?" asked Bill again.

"It's no big mystery. I simply realised at the end of the war that my friendship with Harry and Ron had run its course, and as I wanted to spend time with Mum and Dad anyway, it came to a natural end."

Bill sat back and looked at Hermione appraisingly. "Why would you think that? What aren't you telling me?"

Hermione opened her brown eyes wide. "What do you mean?" she asked ingenuously.

Bill snorted. "Hermione, remember who my brothers are. If I could always tell when Fred and George were trying to bluff me, what makes you think I can't tell when you're doing the same?"

Hermione blushed. "Crap," she muttered under her breath. Nevertheless, Bill heard her. A likeness for very raw steak was not the only werewolf trait he had developed since being bitten by Fenrir Greyback, depsite Greyback not having been transformed at the time. Better than normal reflexes and senses were also on the list of werewolf traits.

"Bill, it's really not important," Hermione protested.

"If it's not important, then there's no reason why you can't tell me the whole story," he pointed out reasonably.

"Must I?" Hermione whined. "I'd really rather not."

"Please," said Bill persuasively.

"All right," Hermione huffed. "Just after the war, Harry and Ginny got back together, as did Ron and Lavender."

"Yes, I know," said Bill, wondering where this was leading.

"During the Horcrux hunt, after Ron ran away and left us, when he came back he was jealous that Harry and I had spent so much time alone together. Harry reassured Ron that he saw me as a sister and I began to hope that Ron might actually see me as a woman. When we were captured by Snatchers and taken to Malfoy Manor, Ron was frantic about me, and so caring of me after we escaped to Shell Cottage."

"I remember."

"During the Final Battle, we kissed. With everything that had happened, I really thought we had a chance. But Lavender was badly injured during the Final Battle, when she was attacked by Greyback…"


	2. Flashback, Part I

**FLASHBACK, PART I**

The Final Battle was over and the survivors were gathered in the Great Hall. Hermione was with Ron and Harry when Ginny came running over to them. "Ron! Lavender's alive! They've taken her to the Hospital Wing!" she cried.

Ron immediately ran off to the Hospital Wing, without so much as a backwards glance, and Hermione was left standing alone, wondering what had just happened. After she and Ron had kissed during the Final Battle, she had been sure that they were now a couple. Ron had certainly acted as though they were, up until Ginny had arrived. Looking towards Harry for reassurance, Hermione watched as Ginny placed one arm around Harry's waist and squirmed under his arm, until he placed it around her shoulder. Hermione watched stupefied as Ginny clearly staked her claim on Harry, making it clear with a fierce glare that Hermione was not wanted.

"Harry," the red-head whined, with a very unsubtle jerk of her head in Hermione's direction.

Harry looked sheepishly at Hermione and said, "Look, Hermione. You've been brilliant over the last few months, but I need to spend time with Ginny now. You'll give us some space, yeah?"

Before Hermione could reply, she heard Molly call "Children!" Looking round, Hermione saw the Weasleys gathered sombrely at the doors to the Great Hall. She numbly trailed along behind Harry and Ginny as they made their way to join the rest of the family, stopping short in shock when she saw the ferocious glare levelled her way by Ginny.

"Where have you children been?" scolded Molly. "Where's Ron?"

"He went to the Hospital Wing to see Lavender," Ginny replied.

"We'll ask Minerva to let him know we've gone home," Molly tutted. "Come along, Ginny, Harry. It's time to go home." Molly swept her family and Harry along in her wake, completely overlooking the girl standing a little bit back from the gathering of Weasleys as the red-headed matriarch fussed over the other two.

Noticing the smug smirk Ginny was sending her way, Hermione determinedly showed no emotion as she watched them all leave. When they were out of sight, Hermione turned back into the Great Hall and began helping with the dead and injured. The Great Hall gradually emptied as people were either taken to the Hospital Wing, St Mungo's, went home or were arrested. Eventually, when there was nothing else Hermione could do at that time, she trudged wearily up to the Hospital Wing herself, looking for Ron.

On entering the school infirmary, Hermione saw that it was calm. It seemed that most of the patients had already been discharged or else transferred to St Mungo's. Those few patients that were remaining were all in bed being tended to by the remaining members of the St Mungo's staff who had come to help out. Ron was sitting beside an unconscious Lavender, holding her hand tightly as he spoke quietly to her. Ron looked up as Hermione approached.

"What are you doing here?" he asked indifferently.

Feeling tears brimming in her eyes, Hermione blinked them away. "Did Professor McGonagall tell you that your family has all gone home?" she asked quietly, trying not to let Ron see how upset she was.

"No," Ron replied. "I'm staying here until Lavender's stable. Look, you'd better go. If Lavender wakes up, she won't be happy to see you here with me." With that, he turned his back to Hermione, shutting her out, as he began talking to Lavender again.

Hermione stared at Ron's back for a minute before shaking herself out of her daze. Looking around, she spotted the school Matron sitting at her desk making notes in a patient's file and made her way over to her.

"Madam Pomfrey," Hermione said softly, and the Mediwitch looked up at her. "Do you have a minute?" Hermione asked.

"What can I do for you, Miss Granger?" Madam Pomfrey asked.

"We were captured by Snatchers while we were on the run and I was Crucioed by Bellatrix Lestrange. I'm still having spasms. I was wondering if you might have anything for Cruciatus damage?"

"Let me have a look at you," the Matron said, leading Hermione over to an empty bed. Hermione perched on the bed while Poppy Pomfrey ran a medical diagnostic on her. "Wait here," said Madam Pomfrey, disappearing into her store cupboard.

A minute later, Poppy returned with several potions vials in her hand and laid them on the bed. "Take this blue one now," she said, selecting one of the bottles of blue potion and handing it to Hermione. "That's for Cruciatus damage. Take one dose twice a day for three days. If you're still having spasms after that, you'll need to go to St Mungo's for more specialised treatment."

Hermione nodded, as she downed the potion. Poppy then pointed to the rest of the vials. "These are nutrient potions," the Matron explained. "You're badly malnourished, which is impacting on your ability to recover from the Cruciatus. You need to take these three times daily for two weeks, together with a meal. Once you've finished both courses of potions, either come back here to see me or else go to another Healer for an assessment to be sure you don't need anything further."

"Thank you," Hermione said, casting cushioning and unbreakable charms on the vials and tucking them into her beaded bag.

Leaving the Hospital Wing, Hermione wondered what to do next. Eventually, she made her way down to the kitchens. Entering, she spoke to one of the army of elves who were all bustling about busily. "Excuse me," she said. "If it's not too much trouble, would it be possible to have something to eat, please?" she asked.

The elf placed a bowl of soup in front of Hermione, who downed one of her nutrient potions and began to eat greedily. She could not remember the last time she had eaten, and had a feeling that it might have been days. As she ate, Minerva McGonagall entered the kitchen.

"Miss Granger," said the Professor in surprise. "I didn't know you were here."

Hermione shrugged her shoulders. "I didn't have anywhere else to go. Molly only wanted the family back at the Burrow. Fred…"

"I understand," said Minerva hastily. Fred Weasley had been one of the casualties of the Battle. "Where is Mr Potter?"

"He was invited back to the Burrow. I wasn't," Hermione said quietly.

"I see. And what are your plans, Miss Granger?"

"I don't know. I haven't had a chance to think about it yet. Would you mind if I stayed long enough to have a shower and a few hours' sleep? Please?" she begged.

"I really shouldn't allow it. The damage the castle has sustained needs to be assessed so that it can be repaired, but all right," Minerva acquiesed.

"Thank you, Professor! I really appreciate it!" Hermione exclaimed gratefully. "I promise I'll stay out the way, and I'll leave just as soon as I've slept."

"Very well. Tell the Fat Lady I said she should grant you entry."

Hermione made her way up to Gryffindor Tower and spoke to the Fat Lady in the portrait guarding the entrance. Once inside, she made her way to the girls' dorms and had a very long shower, making liberal use of the soap and shampoo provided by the school, before collapsing into the nearest bed.

When she woke up, Hermione could not resist taking another shower before getting dressed again, revelling in the feeling of being clean. She had done her best while on the run but several months of living in a tent had left her feeling as though she would never be clean again. Finally feeling refreshed, Hermione then returned to the kitchens and begged the house elves for some sandwiches to take with her. These were promptly supplied and Hermione headed off to the Head's office, where she hoped to find Professor McGonagall. The gargoyle who normally guarded the entrance to the Head's office had been blasted off its pedestal during the Battle and had not yet been returned to its place. Hermione made her way up to the Head's office and knocked on the door.

"Come in," came Minerva's voice and Hermione stepped into the office.

"Miss Granger," Minerva said in surprise.

"I came to let you know I was leaving and to thank you for letting me stay a while," said Hermione, and the Acting Headmistress—she had not yet officially been appointed to the position—gave Hermione one of her thin-lipped smiles.

"That's quite all right, Miss Granger, but I'm afraid that now I really must ask you to leave."

"I understand. Thank you again, Professor." Hermione smiled at her former Head of House and made her way out of the school. Not having thought to ask if the wards had been reinstated yet, Hermione walked out of the school grounds before apparating home. Before her parents had moved to the United States, they sat down and asked Hermione some important questions.

.o.O.o.

 _"What about the house and our practice? Do you think they'll be attacked?" John Granger asked seriously._

 _Hermione bit her lip as she thought about this. "I think the practice will be all right," she said at last. "It isn't called Granger Dental Clinic or anything like that, so hopefully the Death Eaters won't be able to connect it to you." Hermione's parents had their clinic in a large medical centre that offered a number of services, from doctors and dentists, chiropodists and nutritionists, to various other NHS out-patient services. The Old Mill Medical Centre did not have individual practitioners' shingles hanging outside, which would offer the practice a degree of protection, since most Death Eaters knew very little, if anything, about the Muggle world and would therefore find it hard to find her parents' place of work if it was not made very obvious to them._

 _"The house is more of a problem," Hermione continued. "Can you afford to stand its loss?"_

 _John and Helen Granger exchanged a look. "You think if we sell the house, the new owners will be at risk in our place?" Helen asked cautiously._

 _Hermione nodded. "Definitely. The only question is, would they be tortured and killed or killed straight off? It depends if the Death Eaters are after information or not."_

 _"Well, we can't put the new owners at risk, so we won't be selling up then," said John decisively. "Is there anything you can do to protect the house, Hermione?"_

 _Hermione nodded slowly, deep in thought. "There is but…"_

 _"But what, Hermione?" Helen prodded gently when her voice trailed off._

 _"There's a protection called the_ Fidelius Charm _. The knowledge of the location of a_ Fidelius _-protected building is limited to one person, known as the Secret Keeper. Only the Secret Keeper can divulge the location. It would certainly protect the house, but if the Death Eaters came and couldn't find our home, there's a large chance they'd just blast away at the neighbours' homes in anger instead."_

 _"We stand the loss then," John declared staunchly and Helen nodded in agreement. John made a face, "I don't like to think this way since it's probably somewhat fraudulent under the circumstances, but hopefully the insurance would cover us."_

 _"Wouldn't we need a caretaker in that case?" asked Helen, with a worried expression._

 _"I don't think so," replied John after a moment. "Not if we have good security, which we already do."_

 _"We'd have to contract someone to take care of the garden at least," Helen countered. "Otherwise the insurance company would probably say we were advertising the fact that we were away."_

 _"A gardener who comes for a few hours a week during the day shouldn't be at risk," Hermione considered. "I think the Death Eaters are more likely to attack at night than in the daytime. It causes more fear when people are attacked at night, and there's less chance the targets will be away from home when the Death Eaters come. People work; they aren't always home during the day."_

 _John and Helen decided to take a chance on the house being destroyed. They packed what they wanted to take with them, and everything else was put into long-term storage before they headed off to the States. The Grangers gave notice to their partners in the medical centre that they were selling their practice and brought in locums to provide cover until a sale would be completed; fortunately this did not take long, since the medical centre was a desired location in which to have a practice, as the shared ownership reduced overheads significantly._

.o.O.o.

As she had nowhere else to go at this time, Hermione decided to head for home and see if the house was still standing. To her dismay, but not to her surprise, the house looked like there had been a massive explosion.

"Hermione! Is that you?" exclaimed her neighbour, who came bustling out the house at the sight of the bushy-haired girl staring forlornly at the wrecked house. "I wanted to contact your parents after the explosion—we knew they were overseas, of course, but I didn't know where."

"They've been travelling, Mrs Pritchard," Hermione replied with a weak smile. This was not true, but it was the story John and Helen had put about to explain why they would not be leaving a forwarding address. "I just came by to check on the house—I wasn't planning on staying—I'll let them know."

"My dear girl, what have you been doing to yourself?" exclaimed Mrs Pritchard as she looked more closely at the emaciated and battle-weary girl she had known since she was a chubby toddler.

"It's a long story, and one I'm afraid I don't have time to tell right now, Mrs Pritchard," said Hermione ruefully. She chatted for a few more minutes with her neighbour before politely excusing herself and making a show of walking away to the nearest bus stop, which was a couple of streets over. On the way, Hermione ducked into a small stand of trees and, after checking there was no one else around to see her, apparated away to Diagon Alley. Hermione did not know if she would feel safer staying at the Leaky Cauldron or in the Muggle world, but one thing she did know was that she wanted to buy a new wand. Her original wand had been taken from her during the war, and she had since been using Bellatrix Lestrange's wand, which Ron had managed to grab upon their escape from captivity at Malfoy Manor. Unfortunately, because Hermione had not won the wand herself, and because her magic was so incompatible with that of Bellatrix, the wand did not work well for her. The wand did not like Hermione and, knowing who the previous owner had been, Hermione was not at all fond of it either.


	3. Flashback, Part II

**FLASHBACK, PART II**

Arriving at the Leaky Cauldron, Hermione made her way into Diagon Alley and headed towards Ollivander's wand shop but, as she had suspected might be the case, the shop was not open. It was not very long since Mr Ollivander had been rescued after several months' captivity by Death Eaters and the wandmaker was not a young man. Hermione hoped he would be well enough to open his shop again soon, but understood that it might take time for him to recover enough to do so. Her shoulders sagged dispiritedly—this final setback seemed like one too many—and with a sigh, she turned back towards the Leaky Cauldron. As she turned, Hermione accidentally bumped into someone who was coming out of the shop next door.

"Hermione! Are you all right?" came a familiar voice, as a pair of arms slid around her waist to keep her steady.

"Oof! Neville!" exclaimed Hermione as they collided. "Thanks for catching me."

"No problem, Hermione," replied her friend with a grin. "I don't know if you remember my Gran?" he added, gesturing to the elderly witch beside him. "Gran, this is Hermione Granger."

"It's good to see you again, Madam Longbottom," Hermione said politely, shaking the older woman's hand.

As Neville looked at Hermione, he noticed that she was on her own and his grin faded. "Where are Harry and Ron?" Neville frowned, looking around. "You shouldn't be here on your own. It's still dangerous."

"The Weasleys and Harry all went back to the Burrow after the battle," replied Hermione with a shrug, trying to hide her hurt over having essentially been abandoned now that the war was over.

"So why didn't you go with them? You're as close to the Weasleys as Harry is," Neville commented, his face screwed up in confusion.

Hermione shook her head. "It's not the same, Neville. Harry is regarded as family by the Weasleys. I'm just Ron and Harry's friend. And that's the way it should be, because unlike Harry, I do have my own family that cares about me very much. Given that I hid my parents overseas, I'm sure if I had gone back to the Burrow, they would have taken me in but I'd have been intruding on their grief."

"If your family is overseas, Miss Granger, where have you been since the Battle ended?" asked Augusta Longbottom sharply.

"I stayed on at Hogwarts to help with the dead and injured, after which I paid a visit to Madam Pomfrey myself. Professor McGonagall allowed me to remain in the castle long enough to get some sleep and have something to eat, and then I went to check on my childhood home but it's been destroyed. We figured that might happen, which is why my parents didn't sell it—they didn't want to risk putting the new owners in danger. After that, I came here to replace my wand, but Mr Ollivander hasn't reopened yet."

"What happened to your wand?" asked Neville in concern.

"It was taken from me when we were captured by Snatchers. I've been using one Ron took off a Death Eater as we escaped. I was going to hand the wand in to the Ministry for disposal once I replaced it but now that I think of it," Hermione looked at Madam Longbottom, her brown eyes wary in case she was about to cause offence. "I wonder if you might like to be the ones to destroy it? I've been using Bellatrix Lestrange's wand."

Augusta Longbottom gasped as Neville went pale. "Yes, Miss Granger," said Augusta emotionally. "I would very much like to be the one who destroys that particular wand."

Hermione nodded decisively. "I'm just sorry I can't give it to you now, but however badly this wand works for me, I can't be without one at all."

"I understand," replied Augusta sombrely. "Miss Granger, may I ask where you are planning to stay if neither your childhood home nor the Burrow are viable options? Or are you planning to join your parents?"

"I do want to see my parents, of course, but I think I need to stay for the funerals. There are people I want to pay my final respects to." Hermione had been thinking about this. She had a feeling that as the Boy-Who-Lived, Harry would be attending most, if not all, of the funerals and had thought to support him through that ordeal. However, as Harry did not seem to need her support any longer, that freed her from the obligation to attend all the funerals. Hermione was not the public figure that Harry was and her attendance would most likely not be looked for, meaning that she could pick and choose which funerals she would attend—there would be too many funerals and she did not think she could face attending them all, especially as it seemed she would be attending on her own without Harry or Ron to support her.

"Miss Granger, please don't feel me presumptuous, but I would like to offer you the hospitality of our home," said Augusta. "I know you are a good friend to Neville, and I cannot in good conscience leave you to fend for yourself at this time. It's still dangerous for Muggleborns—especially one as prominent as yourself."

Hermione gaped at Neville's grandmother. This was unexpected, as she had had little to no interaction with Augusta Longbottom over the years. "Thank you, Madam Longbottom. That's very generous of you, but I couldn't impose."

"It's not an imposition, Hermione," Neville interrupted firmly. "We offered. Besides, Luna's also staying with us at the moment. Her Dad has been released from Azkaban but he needs to stay in St Mungo's while he recovers, and their home is currently uninhabitable, so Luna will stay with us in the meantime."

"In that case—if you're sure I won't be imposing—I gratefully accept," Hermione said.

"Shall we go and get your trunk then?" said Neville. "Where is it?"

"Here," said Hermione, taking her beaded bag out her pocket and waving it at Neville. "Undetectable Expansion charm," she explained with a grin, as he gaped at the tiny bag.

Hermione accompanied the Longbottoms to the Leaky Cauldron, whence they flooed back to the Longbottom home. Augusta showed Hermione to her room, and then invited her guest to join herself and Neville for tea. "Miss Lovegood is visiting her father," Augusta explained.

Hermione soon found herself in a comfortable parlour, with a very welcome tray of tea and sandwiches before her. "Now, what are your plans, Miss Granger?" the formidable Longbottom matriarch asked.

"Hermione, please," the bushy-haired witch replied. "I'm planning to stay in Britain for the next week or two, so that I can attend the funerals of the people to whom I wish to pay my final respects. I'm hoping Mr Ollivander will open his shop again during that time, so that I can get a new wand before I leave. Of course, I'm not sure how I'll pay for it, since I only have Muggle money and I doubt I'll be welcome in Gringotts since our adventure in bank robbing. Perhaps Neville or Luna could accompany me to Diagon Alley and if I give them my Muggle money, they could exchange it for me in Gringotts?" Hermione suggested with a glance at Neville, who nodded in agreement.

"Actually, Madam Longbottom, I'd greatly appreciate your advice on that—I'll need to make reparations but I don't know how to approach the goblins under the circumstances. If you have any suggestions, they'd be very welcome," Hermione continued.

Augusta looked thoughtful. "I do believe I can open negotiations for you. What are you willing to offer the goblins in reparation?"

"Only a third of the damages—Harry and Ron will have to pay their own shares. I hope they'll accept a payment plan, though, as I doubt I can pay it all at once," Hermione replied.

"Hermione, the goblins will be able to make the repairs with magic. It won't cost them for materials, since they can use the rubble," said Augusta in amusement. "It's the fact that you caused them to lose face that you need to worry about."

"That and the dragon we liberated," said Hermione ruefully. "I'm not about to help them get another one, though. The conditions the dragon was kept in were appalling."

"Why on earth did you rob Gringotts in the first place?" asked Neville in amusement.

Hermione sighed. There were aspects of this story that she felt ought not to be shared, namely the Horcruxes. Taking a moment to think, she cautiously began to tell the tale. "There were certain items belonging to You-Know-Who which needed to be destroyed before he could be defeated once and for all, as these had been imbued with Dark magic in order to keep him alive artificially," she began, all the while thinking, _'There, that should be vague enough—I hope!'_

"Harry, Ron and I spent the last year searching for these items and destroying them. You-Know-Who gave a number of them to his followers to keep safe for him, some of which he had actually stolen, murdering their original owners in the process. When we were at Malfoy Manor, Bellatrix Lestrange said something while… questioning me that made us realise one of those stolen items was in her vault," Hermione continued. "One night during our search we happened to come across Ted Tonks, Dean Thomas and two goblins—Gornuk and Griphook—who were all on the run, although I'm not sure why Griphook and Gornuk were on the run, given that the goblins of Gringotts seemed to be working with the Dark Lord's regime. They weren't aware of our presence, because we were under wards but when we were taken to Malfoy Manor, Dean and Griphook were in the dungeons there, while Gornuk and Ted Tonks had been killed. When we escaped, we managed to get the other occupants of the dungeons out with us—that also included Luna and Mr Ollivander. We then asked Griphook to help us get into the Lestrange vault and he did so on the condition that we gave him the Sword of Gryffindor, which we had in our possession at the time. You probably know that the goblins regard all goblin-made items as their possessions, even after sale?"

Hermione paused and seeing Augusta grimace in acknowledgement, she continued, explaining further for Neville's benefit, as he seemed to be puzzled by this fact.

"As far as the goblins are concerned, we merely rent goblin-made items for the duration of our lifetime, and handing such treasures down to the next generation is theft in their eyes. Godric Gryffondor's sword was a goblin-made item, and Griphook wanted it back. Harry and Ron agreed to give it to him after we had found the item we needed in the Lestrange vault but they were planning all along to double-cross him and keep the sword. I didn't agree with that, but we didn't actually have a choice. Those items of the Dark Lord's could only be destroyed by basilisk venom or Fiendfyre. We had no basilisk venom, nor did we know how to conjure or control Fiendfyre, however, we knew that the sword was imbued with basilisk venom and so it would be able to destroy the Dark Lord's items. I have a certain amount of sympathy over Griphook foiling our double-cross," Hermione mused, "but once he took the sword from us, he set off alarms so that we could be captured, and that was a poor thanks for our saving him from Malfoy Manor. So we had no way to get out without being captured by the goblins… except there was an old, blind dragon shackled near the Lestrange vault. We climbed on its back, broke its shackles, blasted through the roof and made our escape."

"Hmm," Augusta deliberated. "There's the fact that one of the goblins assisted you to enter the bank. Presumably this Griphook opened the vault for you?"

"Yes, but he probably always intended to see us captured afterwards. We didn't think to negotiate a safe exit with him in advance. He only went along with us until he had technically fulfilled his part of the bargain—enabling us to remove the object from the Lestrange vault."

"He still opened a vault that wasn't yours and allowed you entry," Augusta said firmly. "Besides, the item you removed was stolen."

"I'm not sure we can prove that," Hermione pondered. "It was Helga Hufflepuff's Cup, which You-Know-Who stole from her last descendant, Hepzibah Smith. He then killed Madam Smith, framing her house elf for the murder. Dumbledore showed a memory of the event that he had obtained from the house elf to Harry, but I haven't seen the memory myself and can't prove Madam Smith didn't just hand the cup over willingly. This took place long before he became the Dark Lord."

"Well, we'll save the fact that the item had been stolen in case we really need it. Perhaps Mr Potter will be able to provide the memory of himself watching the memory provided by Dumbledore."

Hermione mentally rolled her eyes at this, not at all sure Harry would be so cooperative, but said nothing and tuned back to Augusta.

"Now, let's see what you can offer the goblins as restitution," the older witch mused.

Hermione shook her head. "If they don't want gold, then all I can offer is my apology. I don't have anything else I can offer."

"An apology will be a good start," said Augusta. "Goblins aren't used to receiving them from wizards."

"I'm willing to make it a public apology, published in the _Daily Prophet_ —assuming the _Prophet_ would be willing to publish it exactly as I give it to them. Rita Skeeter doesn't exactly like me," Hermione added dubiously.

"I can take care of that," said Augusta with satisfaction. "I don't think Rita would dare interfere, if it's something required by the goblins of Gringotts. She's offended the goblins a number of times over the years, and I heard she's been warned that one more infraction against them would see her being handed a lifetime ban from Gringotts."

Hermione smiled evilly. "Is that so? What if I could tell the goblins how Rita manages to get much of her information for her stories? The last time I looked, it was through illegal means. If that's still the case, do you think that piece of information would interest the goblins? It would give them a hold over her."

"And just what exactly is this illegal means?" inquired Augusta in amusement.

"She's an unregistered animagus. Her form is a winged beetle. Almost unnoticeable and able to sneak into all sorts of places she shouldn't be. I have a feeling she's still unregistered."

"And why would that be?"

"Because I blackmailed her over it in our fifth year," relied Hermione bluntly. "If she was going to register, she would have done so then to invalidate my blackmail attempt."

Augusta shook her head. "Registering now would cause people to look back over her career. The penalties for being an unregistered animagus would be applied retrospectively. And if she ever used her animagus form to sneak into sensitive meetings at the Ministry, which I'm sure she did considering some of the stories she's broken over the years, the penalties would be extreme. No, it's highly unlikely that she's registered, but I'll check to be sure. I have no doubt that the goblins would find that particular piece of information very interesting indeed."

"How do you know she's an animagus, Hermione?" Neville asked curiously.

"I caught her at the end of fourth year, after the end of the third Triwizard task. She was using her form to listen to what was happening in the hospital wing after Harry had been taken there. It's how she got all her stories that year, since Dumbledore had banned her from the school grounds. I kept her trapped in a jar for a while, before letting her go once I had her agreement that she'd keep her quill to herself for a year."

Neville was gazing at Hermione open-mouthed in admiration. "Blimey, Ron was right about you, Hermione. Brilliant… but scary¹!"

.o.O.o.

¹ _Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone_ by JK Rowling. Quote from the movie, not the book.

A/N: I had some reviews to the last chapter, ranting at Lavender, as though it was an indisputable fact that she's a slut of the worst kind. As one of them was a guest review, I couldn't respond to the reviewer directly, so I decided to share my thoughts on that here. It seems to be a common theme in FF that Lavender and Parvati, and very often Padma too, just by virtue of being Parvati's twin, all sleep around. I have no idea where this idea comes from. Lavender had a date to the Yule Ball but, other than that, there's no indication that she dated anyone before she went out with Ron, nor is there any indication that she ever did any more than kiss Ron. Dating someone does not automatically equate to sleeping with them! As for Padma and Parvati, if the boys hadn't been desperate to find dates, it would seem that the Patils were willing to go to the ball on their own without dates, since it wasn't until close to the ball when Harry managed to get Parvati to agree that she and Padma would to go with him and Ron. Other than that, again, there's no evidence of either of the Patils dating anyone else. I appreciate that most FF is AU and characters often are OOC otherwise it wouldn't be FF, but there really is no evidence in canon to support the assumption that any of Lavender, Padma or Parvati is in any way a slut.


	4. After the War

**AFTER THE WAR**

"I stayed with the Longbottoms for three weeks," Hermione told Bill. "I attended some of the funerals—Remus and Tonks, Colin Creevey, Professor Snape and Fred, among others."

"I don't remember seeing you at Fred's funeral," Bill interrupted.

"I tried to come and speak to the family but Ron and Ginny didn't seem to want my presence. I didn't want to make the occasion even harder, so I stayed at the back," Hermione explained, not wanting to dwell on what had happened. Ron had merely turned his back on Hermione, but Ginny's glares at the sight of her had been rather ferocious. Hermione had been very taken aback and quite hurt by the palpable waves of dislike being sent her way by the girl who she had thought was a friend.

Bill raised an eyebrow at this, sure that Hermione was imagining things about his two younger siblings, but he did not want to risk offending her by vocalising his opinion. Hermione, however, saw the raised eyebrow and knew exactly what he was thinking, but as she did not want to speak badly of Ron and Ginny to their brother, she did not elaborate further.

"Madam Longbottom destroyed Bellatrix's wand almost immediately, and presented the broken pieces to the DMLE. They weren't too happy that it had already been destroyed from what I understand, but it wasn't needed for evidence since Bellatrix was dead and, quite frankly, I don't think anyone would ever have wanted to use that wand again," Hermione shuddered. "The Longbottoms lent me Alice's wand. I felt bad about accepting it, but Mrs Longbottom and Neville insisted. It was a reasonably good match, and I _really_ wanted get rid of Bellatrix's wand, so I agreed to borrow it until Ollivanders reopened. Mrs Longbottom said I should just keep it, but I said that Neville should keep it to see if would suit any of his children."

Bill nodded in agreement. "You did the right thing," he said. "It was a great honour Mrs Longbottom was offering you, but it should definitely go to one of Neville's children if the wand is compatible with them."

"I know. I could see Neville biting his tongue when his Gran suggested I keep the wand. I couldn't in good conscience have kept it," Hermione concurred. "Madam Longbottom negotiated with the goblins for me and they accepted my terms. I don't know what, if anything, they've done with the information about Rita Skeeter but they seemed happy to receive it."

"The goblins trade in any usable currency, be it gold, muggle money or information," Bill commented, his eyes twinkling with amusement.

"Madam Longbottom also managed to get the _Prophet_ to print my letter of apology without editing it in any way. I have a feeling they—or Rita, anyway—would have been so delighted to see me publicly humbling myself that they weren't even tempted to edit it."

Bill shrugged. He remembered the reaction of his family when they saw the published letter. They had been very surprised indeed to see it, and it had caused quite a ruckus in the Weasley home.

"Hermione," Bill asked hesitantly. "Why did you only apologise on your own behalf? Why didn't you include the boys in your apology?" This had been puzzling him ever since he had read the letter of apology in the newspaper, which had been quite clear was only for her participation in the incident.

Hermione looked steadily at the red-headed man. "Bill, I'm not their mother. I nursed Harry and Ron through school, but they're grown adults now. Wasn't it time they stepped forward and took responsibility for their own actions?"

Bill grimaced. Hermione was not wrong. The family—those who chose to comment on the letter at all—had been quite vocal about Hermione's selfishness in only apologising for herself but Bill could not disagree with her reasoning—it really was not her place to apologise for Harry and Ron.

"Besides," Hermione continued reasonably. "Would Harry and Ron really have wanted to have humbled themselves by making a public apology in the _Daily Prophet_?"

"No, probably not," Bill admitted reluctantly.

"Anyway, while I was staying with the Longbottoms, I went into the muggle world a few times to contact my parents—thank Merlin for email!—and let them know the war was over, the side of Light had won and I was safe and in one piece. They would have liked me to come to them immediately but they understood that I needed to stay for the funerals. They were willing to wait to see me—they were just grateful I was alive and well. Madam Longbottom also took me to their family's Healer for a complete physical, and the Healer supplemented the potions I had received from Madam Pomfrey. I tried to thank Madam Longbottom for everything she did for me—her kindness was quite extraordinary—but she refused to hear it. She said that it was the least she could do after I allowed her to destroy Bellatrix Lestrange's wand."

Hermione made a face. "I didn't actually think I deserved Mrs Longbottom's thanks—I still don't. I always felt a bit guilty about Neville, because he was on his own so much. Harry, Ron and I were friends, Dean and Seamus were best friends, and the other girls in my dorm also paired off. Neville was friendly enough with everyone but he didn't really have a best friend in Gryffindor. Madam Longbottom insisted, though, and I was in no position to argue. I needed to see a Healer after all, and I needed a wand and a safe place to stay. Mr Ollivander finally reopened, and I got a new wand from him. After three weeks, I gave the Longbottoms my heartfelt thanks and a present of some plants for their gardens and I left for the States.

"I travelled muggle," Hermione continued. "I felt it would be safer than bringing attention to myself by requesting an international portkey. I arrived safely and once I had decompressed and felt ready to rejoin the wizarding world, I contacted the American Ministry, who helped to arrange for citizenship for us, as Mum and Dad have decided to remain there permanently and I wanted to be with them. At that point, I wasn't planning to apprentice in Egypt," she said with a laugh, "but I intend to go back to the States once I gain my Mastery."

"Hermione," said Bill hesitantly. "I still don't understand why you feel your friendship with Harry and Ron was at an end?" If he was being honest with himself, he would have admitted that he understood exactly why she felt that way from what she had told him, but he was not quite ready to believe his youngest brother had been so callous as to abandon Hermione after the Final Battle, despite Ron's concern for Lavender.

Hermione bit her lip as she thought over what to say and Bill sat patiently waiting until she was ready to speak. Truth be told, Hermione was holding in a lot of hurt feelings with regard to Harry and Ron, but she did not want to express it. She wanted to put it all behind her, not wallow over things that had happened years ago. Finally, she gave a sigh, and began to speak.

"After the Final Battle, Harry and Ron made it very clear to me that their focus then was Ginny and Lavender and there was no place for me in their lives at that time. I understood the first but was a bit taken aback at the second. Once I thought about it, though, I had to admit that I never really had much in common with Harry and Ron, other than our shared adventures. Our friendship always had its ups and downs—and some of the downs were quite major. We were all equally guilty of making mistakes and getting things wrong, but the boys always seemed to make up and forgive each other far more easily than they ever did me," said Hermione, thinking sadly of how Harry had forgiven Ron for deserting him twice, first during the Triwizard Tournament and then during the Horcrux Hunt, with barely an apology on Ron's part, and yet she never seemed to get the same easy forgiveness.

In contrast, Ron had expected her to abase herself before him when he thought that her cat, Crookshanks, had eaten his rat, Scabbers. Nor had Harry ever really forgiven her for accidentally breaking his wand, depsite her all but grovelling to him. Admittedly, she understood how dangerous it had been for him to be without a wand at that time, but it had happened while she had been in the process of helping him escape before Voldemort arrived after Nagini had bitten him, thus saving Harry's life, something Harry had never acknowledged.

 _'Ron was never willing to apologise, despite treating me quite unpleasantly on occasion, like at the end of the Yule Ball in fourth year, but he always expected the apologies in return,'_ Hermione reminisced, _'and Harry wasn't much better at times. Yet I can't recall them ever extending that same courtesy to me. The boys really were rather self-centred at times.'_

"Of course, it's not all about apologies and forgiveness but, in hindsight, that shows just how unequal our relationship was. Perhaps I should have expected that, given that the boys' friendship with me was based on a lie in the first place," Hermione continued.

"At the beginning, I was just so glad to have friends that I ignored the disparity in our friendship, but as time went on, it became more and more obvious that while I was useful to the boys, I wasn't truly equal to them, and it became harder for me to accept that I didn't matter as much to them as they did to me, or even to each other," Hermione continued, thinking acerbically, _'Hell, I didn't even matter to Harry, Ron or Ginny as much as Quidditch did!'_

"Harry and Ron always chose each other over me," Hermione explained sadly. "At the end of the war, I was at the end of my tether. I really felt at the time that I'd been doing nothing but giving, while they'd done nothing but take. When I look back now with a clearer head, I can see it wasn't quite that bad and they did do their best to be supportive of me, but unfortunately, their best was mostly rather half-hearted. In truth, the real friendship was between Harry and Ron, and I was just the tagalong. I did actually write to the boys from Longbottom Manor to let them know where I was and that I was safe, and I continued writing twice a month, but I never received a reply, so eventually I stopped writing to them altogether—round about the time I realised that they had married without inviting me to their weddings. In contrast, George, even in the depth of his grief over Fred, has replied to every letter I sent to him, as have Neville and Luna.

"I'm not upset or holding a grudge against Harry and Ron," Hermione assured Bill. "I think that we simply had one of those friendships that lasts while you're at school—or running around trying to save the world from psychotic madmen—and then dies a natural death afterwards. It's not like I actually had much in common with Harry or Ron, after all, and Ginny and Lavender wouldn't have appreciated my hanging around like a bad smell."

Bill sat back and regarded the witch sitting opposite him. It was certainly true that Hermione had no interests in common with Harry and Ron. Since first meeting Hermione, Bill had often wondered what was the point of commonality that brought the three friends together, and had concluded it was their shared adventures. Although Harry had been the main focus of the recent war, as a Muggleborn witch it had been as much Hermione's war to fight as Harry's. Ron's too, for that matter, since the Weasleys were regarded as the biggest blood traitor family by the Death Eaters. It would not have been possible for any of the trio of friends to have opted out of the war, and so Bill had presumed they had bonded together early on in order to support each other against prejudice and the forces that had undoubtedly been lining up against them from the day they had first entered Hogwarts. If, as Hermione seemed to be saying, it was indeed the case that their adventures and the war had been the glue to hold the friendship together, then it was understandable that with the end of the war the friendship might indeed have come to a natural end. And the oldest Weasley knew only too well how jealous Ginny and Lavender were of Hermione's friendship with the boys; the two girls seemed to have teamed up to distract the boys' attention if ever Hermione was mentioned in their presence, and both Harry and Ron appeared quite happy to allow themselves to be distracted.

With a nod, Bill accepted Hermione's assessment of her friendship with Ron and Harry, and changed the subject. "Have you made any new friends since you left Britain?"

Hermione smiled and nodded. "I've become friendly with some of my colleagues and they also introduced me to some of the Gringotts curse breakers here in Egypt, so I'm doing okay socially. I'm not sitting in every night, mourning my lost friendships. I've moved on and I really am happy. So are Mum and Dad, for that matter."

Bill smiled back at the younger witch, enjoying how animated she seemed. The last time he had seen her had been at the Final Battle and Hermione had been physically and emotionally exhausted then. It was good to see her looking so much happier and healthier now. Hermione seemed to be flourishing since having left Britain—something Bill could empathise with, since he also found Britain quite stifling.

The two carried on talking, but eventually they had to leave and let Basim close up for the night. Bill escorted Hermione home and, before leaving her at her front door, asked, "May I see you again?"

"I'd like that, Bill. Very much," Hermione smiled shyly. Of all the Weasleys, Bill was the one with whom she had the most interests in common, despite her shared history with the younger members of the family, and she had long harboured a secret crush on him. Although all the older brothers were highly intelligent, Charlie and the twins had very specific areas of interest and Percy saw knowledge only as a means to an end. Bill, however, shared a love of books and learning with the bushy-haired witch, and had as varied an interest as did Hermione. Like her, the oldest Weasley son loved to read and learn simply for the sake of it. Hermione had shared many an interesting conversation with Bill when she was recovering in his home after having been tortured during the war, and she was looking forward to furthering her friendship with this man who, as Hermione admitted to herself as she lay in bed that night, was as attractive to her physically as he was intellectually.

Bill, on the other hand, was lying in his bed with a soppy grin on his face. During the time Hermione had spent in Shell Cottage, Bill had come to suspect that he had formed a mating bond with the young witch, but had said nothing at the time because he was married and Hermione had seemed to have feelings for his youngest brother, Ron. Fleur had confirmed his suspicion when she apologetically informed Bill that she had formed a mating bond with her mate—now husband—Boniface.

"But you understand zees, hein? You 'ave formed zee mating bond wiz 'Ermione, n'est-ce pas?" Fleur had said with a smile.

Of course, by this time it was too late, as Hermione had long since left Britain and Bill did not know where she was. While the red-haired wizard knew he could have sent the young witch an owl, he had received the impression from Harry and Ron—or more from Ginny, now that he thought about it—that Hermione had irrevocably cut all ties with Britain. With that impression in his mind, Bill had not known how to proceed with regard to making contact with her. Bill was nine years older than his mate and had only spoken to her a handful of times prior to her sojourn in Shell Cottage. He had therefore unhappily concluded that if Hermione truly had cut all ties with Britain, then she was unlikely to welcome a letter from someone she barely knew.

 _'At least now I have a chance with Hermione, but blurting out that she's my mate isn't the best way to go about this, so I just need to be careful not to rush her,'_ Bill decided happily as he fell asleep.


	5. Falling in Love

**FALLING IN LOVE**

As time went on, Hermione and Bill became closer. They spent almost every evening together, and their friends and colleagues in Egypt smiled on the relationship. To their minds, Hermione and Bill were very much a couple and it was only a matter of time before the couple announced their engagement. The problem was that Hermione and Bill had yet to clarify their relationship; Bill was still determined not to rush Hermione, while she had so little confidence in her desirability as a woman that she had convinced herself that Bill could never be romantically interested in a bushy-haired bookworm such as herself.

"So, what's happening with you and Mr Strong, Tall and Hunky?" asked her friend, Leyla, an Egyptian witch who was apprenticing at the Ancient Magical Library of Alexandria alongside Hermione. Leyla, Hermione and three of the Gringotts curse breakers, Mireille, Grace and Padma Patil, the latter of whom had been at school with Hermione, were gathered together in Hermione's flat for a girls' night. Alcohol was flowing freely, as were some tangy soft drinks for those who did not partake of alcohol.

"What do you mean?" asked Hermione in surprise.

"Oh, come on, 'Ermione. You and Beel," said Mireille with a roll of her eyes.

"Bill and me?" Hermione squeaked. "Nothing! He's not interested in me."

At that, the other girls all burst out laughing, leaving Hermione looking at them in astonishment. "He's not," she insisted in high dudgeon.

"Merlin, you're serious!" said Padma in amazement. "Hermione, the man is crazy about you. You spend almost all your free time together, and Bill's never happier than when he's with you."

Hermione was unconvinced. _'It's not like any of the boys ever chased after me in Hogwarts, except perhaps Cormac McLaggen, and he was only interested in me because he wanted Harry to put him on the Quidditch team and he thought I'd persuade Harry for him. None of the boys in school ever regarded me as being desirable or pretty. I made so much effort to dress up and look good for the Yule Ball but no one complimented me on my appearance—not even Viktor and he was my date. Bill is very handsome, and he has women turning to look at him whenever we're out. He was married to Fleur and she's a quarter-Veela. He could have anyone he wants. Why would he want me?'_ Hermione ruminated sadly.

Padma, the only one there that night who had been in school with Hermione, understood the bushy-haired witch's reluctance to believe that Bill could have feelings for her. The Indian witch remembered how none of the boys had ever shown an interest in Hermione—in fact, many of them had spent their schooldays making fun of her—and Padma also knew that sharing a dorm with her own twin, Parvati, and Parvati's best friend, Lavender, could not have done much for Hermione's self-confidence. Even though she did not like speaking ill of her sister, Padma knew that Parvati and Lavender were two of the most shallow girls to have been in Hogwarts during their years at school. As long as she was clean, neat and tidy, Hermione had not cared much about her appearance, while Parvati and Lavender had cared about little else. Hermione was not unattractive, but she could never compete with the other two girls in the looks department and the bushy-haired witch knew it.

Padma seemed to remember hearing a story about Ron only even bothering to notice that Hermione was female when he had desperately needed a date for the Yule Ball. Apparently, Ron had quite insultingly refused to believe Hermione when she said she already had a date and and had then been furious when he subsequently discovered Hermione's date was Viktor Krum and not the embarrassing loser—to use Ron's words—the red-headed wizard had expected. Padma had actually ended up being Ron's date to the Yule Ball that night and she had not been at all impressed with either his attitude or his behaviour.

 _'If that's what Hermione had to put up with for seven years, it's hardly surprising she doesn't have much self-esteem,'_ Padma mused.

'Hermione," said Padma gently. "The next time you're together, look at Bill properly. He just lights up around you."

"And the expression in his eyes," cooed Grace.

"His eyes?" queried Hermione in bewilderment.

"They just melt when they look at you," answered Grace dreamily, much to the other girls' amusement.

Hermione merely shook her head in denial and changed the subject. At a warning look from Padma, the other girls let the matter rest. "We've planted the idea; give it time," the Indian witch whispered when Hermione had disappeared to the kitchen for more supplies.

The other girls nodded and dropped the subject—for now. They would all like to see Hermione happy, and were determined to help bring it about, but knew that it would not be a good idea to push too hard too soon.

However, it was not necessary for the girls to take steps. After a night's reflection, Hermione had rejected what the girls had said. _'Bill would never be interested in me,'_ she scoffed to herself as she went to sleep that night. _'I only wish he would be. I'll miss him if one of us moves away from Egypt.'_ Hermione was honest enough with herself to admit that Bill had become very important to her, she just could not believe that her feelings for him would be reciprocated.

However, the thought continued to simmer in her head and Hermione could not help looking at the handsome curse-breaker with new eyes; she soon saw for herself just what the girls had meant. Instead of reassuring her though, it only served to make her even more flustered around this man with whom she had fallen in love. Realising that she could not continue in a state of continual agitation, Hermione eventually plucked up the courage to talk to Bill one night when they had opted for a quiet night in together in Hermione's flat.

"Bill?" asked Hermione hesitantly.

"Hmm?" he asked warmly, smiling down at the petite witch who was curled up next to him on the sofa.

"What are we?" she asked, biting her lip anxiously.

Bill reached out and gently thumbed her lip out from under her teeth. "We're friends," he started, only to be interrupted by Hermione.

"Is that all we are?" Hermione asked tremulously, looking at him with big, brown, spaniel eyes.

"I hope not," he replied slowly. "Would you like to be more?"

Hermione nodded her head. "Yes, I would. I'd like that very much."

Bill smiled brightly and gently caressed Hermione's cheek. Sliding his hand down, he cupped her chin and tilted it upwards. Hermione's eyelids fluttered and closed as Bill kissed her. The kiss was sweet and tender and very loving. It spoke of promises and a future untold.

Hermione mewled in disappointment when Bill reluctantly ended the kiss and pulled back to smile at her. "Is everything all right?" Hermione asked hesitantly, worried that he had ended the kiss because she had disappointed him.

"Of course, love," said Bill, reaching out to tuck an unruly curl behind her ear.

"Really?" asked Hermione, hardly daring to believe her ears.

"Of course. Why wouldn't it be?" asked Bill, wondering why she would be so worried.

"I didn't know… I wasn't sure… I thought maybe I didn't do it right," the bushy haired witch admitted reluctantly, looking downwards in embarrassment and hiding her face in her mass of curls.

"Do what right, Hermione?" Bill slipped a finger her chin and gently but firmly brought her face up so that she was looking at him.

"Kiss you. I didn't kiss you right," Hermione whispered, her cheeks crimson with embarrassment.

Bill's mouth gaped open in shock. "What? Why would you think that, Hermione?"

Hermione shrugged her shoulders indifferently, trying not to let the hurt show. "No one has ever been interested in me. Viktor only asked me to the Yule Ball during the Triwizard Tournament because I was the only girl in the entire school—including the guests from Beauxbatons—who wasn't drooling over him. He wasn't interested in me as more than a friend, though. I was too young for him at the time, I'd only just turned fifteen. The nicest thing that Harry or Ron ever said about me was when Harry said he didn't think I was ugly¹, and even then he wasn't actually giving me a compliment, he was just making an observation. And Ron… we kissed during the Final Battle, and then he turned around and got back together with Lavender straight after. I must have done something badly wrong when I kissed him, because he wouldn't even look at me afterwards. And then you pulled away from me…"

"Not because you did anything wrong, Hermione!" Bill interrupted. "I just didn't want to rush you. I promise you, Hermione Granger, that I enjoyed every moment of that kiss. What's more, I'm going to kiss you again."

And Bill did just that. Hermione melted against him happily as she responded to him. Bill gathered her in his arms and pulled her onto his lap, deepening the kiss further. This time, when the handsome wizard finally pulled away, Hermione had been so thoroughly kissed that she was not sure she even knew her own name. From the very gratified grin on his face, she was in no doubt that Bill had enjoyed that kiss every bit as much as she had.

Looking deeply into Bill's eyes, Hermione's breath hitched at the possessive look in them. If she had any lingering doubts about Bill's feelings for her, that one look was sufficient to dispel them all. With a happy sigh, Hermione reached up to capture Bill's lips again.

Later, much later, Bill and Hermione were stretched out on the couch together. Clothes had not yet been discarded but it had been a close thing. Bill was determined not to rush Hermione, and it was purely due to his desire to make sure that his mate felt safe and happy in his presence that he had been able to exercise any degree of control. With something that looked perilously close to a pout, Bill reluctantly disentangled himself from Hermione and stood up. "I should go home," he said, pecking her on the lips.

"Don't go, Bill. Please stay," Hermione whispered, standing up and looking up at the tall wizard beseechingly.

Bill swooped down for another kiss. "Hermione, you'd barely been kissed before tonight. Are you sure you're ready to take things further?" he asked dubiously, concerned that Hermione was moving too fast, too soon.

Hermione shook her head. "No, I'm not ready for more yet. I was just thinking perhaps we could sleep together. _Sleep_ , nothing else," she explained hopefully. "I'd like to sleep in your arms tonight."

Bill smiled. That sounded good to him, too. It had been a long time since he had had a truly restful night's sleep, and he was fairly sure it was because of his mate's absence. "I'd like that, too," he agreed warmly.

Hermione took Bill's hand and led him in the direction of her bedroom. Hermione handed Bill a spare toothbrush and a towel, and they each took turns in the bathroom. When she had finished her nightly ritual, Hermione nervously climbed into bed beside Bill, who had stripped down to his boxers. The wizard with whom Hermione had fallen in love tugged her back towards him and spooned around her.

"All right?" Bill asked.

"Mmm hmm," Hermione replied, taking a deep breath and forcing her body to relax. Bill's heart beating strongly up against her back lulled Hermione into a drowsy state. "Bill? Am I your mate?" Hermione mumbled, just before she fell asleep.

"Yes." In the dark, Bill's voice came whispering around her as he replied.

"Good." Hermione snuggled back further into Bill, whose arms tightened around her possessively as she surrendered to her tiredness and let sleep take her.

From that time on, Hermione and Bill were inseparable. They spent all their free time together, either with mutual friends or on their own, and they slept every night in each other's arms. They still had not taken their relationship that step further but both were happy with the status quo for now. Indeed, Hermione was blissfully happy and spent her days with a goofy smile on her face that made her friends tease her unmercifully whenever they saw that grin. Unlike her experiences with Ron while at school, the teasing was good-natured and did not make fun of her, and so Hermione never minded it, merely smiling sweetly at her friends and going on about her business.

Bill, in the meantime, was worrying about other things. He owned a large and generously sized apartment and wanted to invite Hermione to give up her lease and move in with him, however, he had not yet shared his relationship with Hermione with his family, other than two of his brothers. Charlie was the brother to whom Bill was closest and, as a magical creatures expert, Charlie understood better than the rest of his family the concept of a mating bond, therefore, Bill had not hesitated to confide in him. George was the only member of the family who was still in touch with Hermione and it was she who had informed George of her relationship with his eldest brother. Both brothers fully supported the relationship but were not sure if the rest of the family would be accepting. Charlie was particularly sympathetic as the second Weasley brother knew that his mother would never accept his own relationship with one of his fellow dragon tamers, a handsome Irishman named Aidan. Charlie and Aidan had been a couple for a few years now but Charlie had never breathed a word about Aidan to the Weasley family in general; only Bill was aware of Charlie's life-partner.

For the first time in his life, Bill was procrastinating and, as long as he was avoiding telling his family about Hermione, he did not feel he could invite Hermione to move in with him—the ruckus that would inevitably ensue when the Weasleys learned about the relationship would be even worse if his family found out by accident.

.o.O.o.

¹ _Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix_ , Chapter 26, by JK Rowling.


	6. Moving On

**MOVING ON**

It was four years since the war had ended. Hermione had spent a year in the States with her parents before beginning her apprenticeship in Alexandria, and it had been over a year since Bill had returned to Egypt. The couple had not yet informed the Weasleys of their relationship, although Hermione's parents had met Bill and approved. Bill was intelligent enough to keep up with their daughter and absolutely adored her.

After three years, Hermione had completed her apprenticeship and had been offered a position by the Library of Congress, while Bill was being transferred by Gringotts to the United States, to excavate and ward the pyramids in the Florida swamps¹. These were magical pyramids in the Everglades whose wards were failing and so muggles were occasionally able to catch glimpses of them. The wards needed to be renewed and the pyramids themselves explored. It would have been possible for Bill to remain based in Egypt and to return there after completing this project, but he knew that exploring and excavating these pyramids would most likely take a number of years to complete and with Hermione wanting to be nearer her parents, he felt that the time was right for him to relocate permanently.

Bill and Hermione had considered looking for a home midway between Washington DC and Florida to make it easier to apparate, but it soon became obvious that Bill, as the curse breaker in charge of this project, would need to be closer to hand so that he could supervise properly, and so the couple had purchased a home in Cape Coral in Florida—Bill was looking forward to living near the sea again, although the Gulf of Mexico was very different to the south coast of Britain where Shell Cottage, his home with Fleur, had been.

Hermione would have much more regular hours and would not need to be on call at all times, and so she was happy to be the one to travel to work. With magical travel, it would not be much of a journey in any case, although the distance was such that it would probably be safer for her to take a portkey than to apparate each day, as she did not want to risk splinching herself; she would not be the only member of staff in the magical section of the Library of Congress to live at a distance. The Director of the Magical Division of the Library of Congress had been very understanding upon hearing that Hermione's partner was required to live in Florida and a reusable, two-way portkey had been promised to Hermione as part of her employment package.

Bill was particularly excited by this move as Charlie and Aidan had also recently relocated to the States, where, coincidentally, they were also working in the Everglades, albeit with Florida swamp dragons² rather than pyramids. Charlie and Aidan were living in a small, wizarding village in the middle of the Everglades, which had been built for the use of the dragon reserve. Most of Bill's team would also be living there but he and Hermione had chosen to live in a Muggle location so that Hermione's parents would be able to visit them.

Charlie had tired of his mother's nagging to settle down with a good witch and when this opportunity came up, had jumped at it, welcoming the chance to put a bit more distance between himself and his family. It was not that Charlie did not love the rest of his family, just that he wanted to be able to live his own life and not the life his mother was trying to dictate. Molly could be overbearing at the best of times, but since the death of Fred at the end of the war, she was finding it particularly hard to let go of her children.

Before their move to the States, however, Hermione was due to attend Neville Longbottom's wedding to another former classmate, Hannah Abbott. There was no question in Hermione's mind that she would attend this wedding, however, she was very nervous about it, since she knew that Harry, Ginny, Ron and Lavender would all be there and she was not sure how they would react to her presence. Bill was equally nervous, as he had decided that this would be a good opportunity for him to inform his family of his relationship with Hermione. Bill wanted to propose to her and felt that his family really should be aware that an engagement was imminent.

The day before Neville's wedding, Bill appeared at the Burrow.

"Bill!" Molly cried, bustling over to hug him. "Why didn't you tell us you were coming?"

"I'm only here for a few days," said Bill.

"Well, come in. Have you eaten? You're looking very thin," Molly tutted, causing laughter throughout the Burrow. It just so happened that the entire family, minus Charlie, was present and everyone knew about Molly's penchant for feeding people.

Bill greeted his father and then sat down to chat with his siblings and his father. Molly, in the meantime, had disappeared much to Bill's surprise. It was not like her not to fuss over him when he arrived home. As he continued talking, Bill kept an eye out for Molly's return, waiting for her to ask about his personal life.

It was only a few minutes before Molly came down the stairs and into the living room, where everyone was gathered. "I've made up your bed for you, Bill," she said with a smile.

Bill looked embarrassed. "Um, I won't be staying here, Mum," he said. He could see an eruption approaching from his mother, so he hastened to explain. "I've decided it's time to move on and stop wallowing in the past. I'm going to sell Shell Cottage. Fleur agrees it's time."

Silence fell over those assembled and Bill raised an eyebrow, not sure why this appeared to be such a shock to his family. Surely they realised he would not want to live at Shell Cottage again? "Anyway, I'm going to stay there while I sort through everything," he finished.

"Well, that's nonsense. You can stay here and I'll floo over with you every day to help," Molly bristled.

"Mum," said Bill gently. "I appreciate the offer. I really do. But I need to do it myself. I need closure and this is the best way to get it."

"But…" Molly began, only to be interrupted by her husband.

"I'm sure Bill knows what's best for him, Molly. You will see us again while you're here?" he asked his oldest son.

"Of course, Dad," exclaimed Bill, shocked that his father would think otherwise.

"Where will you live when you come back home again?" asked Ginny, trying to change the subject.

"I have no idea when I'll move back to Britain. It won't be for some years yet, so it's silly to keep the house any longer. Of course, I'll still come for holidays to see everyone, but I'm heading up a new, long-term project in Florida. I'll be able to see Charlie more often, so that'll be good," he said encouragingly as he noted the black expression on his mother's face.

"So… met any nice witches in Egypt?" George asked, laughing as his oldest brother glared at him.

Bill noticed his mother perk up at that question and smothered a sigh. _'Here goes,'_ he thought in resignation.

"Yes, I have. I've been dating someone for about a year now. It's serious."

"Why didn't you tell us?" Molly huffed in disapproval.

"Yes, why didn't you tell us, Bill? Something wrong with her? Is she ugly?" Ron laughed raucously at his own joke, oblivious to Bill's displeasure.

Bill's inner wolf was itching to punish Ron for insulting his mate. Bill clamped down tight on those feelings. "No, Ron. There is nothing wrong with her, nor is she ugly," he growled through gritted teeth, making his family sit up in shock.

 _'Why is Bill so angry?'_ the Weasleys all wondered.

Only Lavender, who had also been attacked by Fenrir Greyback and likewise had wolfish traits seemed to realise that Bill's inner wolf was coming to the fore. "Leave it, Ron," she whispered, tugging on his arm to get his attention. Ron, however, shook her off.

"Did you just growl?" Ron asked incredulously. "What was that all about? You sounded like… you sounded like…"

"A wolf," said Lavender quietly and Ron paled.

"But I thought you didn't transform, Bill?" asked Harry in confusion.

"No, neither of us transforms," replied Lavender, deeming it better to keep the attention on herself until Bill calmed down. "But we both have many wolfish traits. It would be wise not to disrespect your brother's… mate? She is your mate, isn't she?" Lavender's eyes flew to Bill.

"Yes, she's my mate. And Lavender is quite correct, it would indeed be wise not to insult her," Bill warned his younger siblings, paying special attention to the two youngest, Ron and Ginny.

The family all gasped in surprise. Although Bill had explained about mates to them when he announced that he and Fleur were divorcing, they had not really taken it seriously, other than Lavender for whom this might one day be relevant, although she hoped not because she genuinely loved Ron.

"Well, she must be quite an extraordinary witch if she can cope with being the mate of a half werewolf," said George with a twinkle in his eye.

Bill softened. "She is most extraordinary. I'm very blessed," he said simply.

"So, tell us about her. Do we know her?" asked Ginny curiously.

Bill stiffened. Over the time they had been dating, Hermione had gradually confided in him more about her erstwhile friendship with Harry and Ron and about the events after the Final Battle, and he was fairly certain it was Ginny and Lavender's doing that Hermione had been forgotten by his family. Lavender he understood; she was feeling uncertain about Ron, knowing that he was not her mate. However, it was quite rare that spontaneous mating bonds formed and so Lavender should not allow the fact that Ron was not her mate to worry her. As for Ginny, he presumed she was just plain jealous of Hermione.

 _'And well she should be,'_ thought Bill. _'Harry's not very impressive without Hermione's support.'_ Bill recalled hearing the late Severus Snape criticise Harry as being average in the extreme at meetings of the Order of the Phoenix. Snape had claimed that Harry would have been completely lost—and, very likely, dead at an early age—without Hermione's brains behind him. At the time Bill had bristled in Harry's defence but now, having seen Harry fade into mediocrity since the end of the war, he could only agree with the dour Potions Master.

"She's Hermione," Bill said brusquely.

"Hermione _Granger?_ " asked Angelina Johnson. Of course, as George's fiancée she knew full well who the woman in Bill's life, but she thought it advisable to make it absolutely clear so that Bill's family could not willfully misunderstand.

 _'Here we go,'_ thought Bill in resignation as he watched Molly, Ron and Ginny all redden in anger. _'Three, two, one…'_ The resultant explosion was enough to make Bill's sensitive ears hurt.

"What?" Ron roared. "You traitor!"

"That cow!" Ginny fumed. "Can't she just leave us alone?"

"That girl will never be welcome in this family!" screeched Molly.

"Silence!" Bill yelled, firing bangs from his wand to get his family's attention. When the noise had died down, Bill turned first to his mother, taking a deep breath. " _That girl_ is my mate. If Hermione's not welcome here in this family then neither am I. As for you two," he continued, turning to Ron and Ginny before Molly had a chance to say anything further. "What exactly is your problem with Hermione? I thought she was supposed to be your friend, Ron."

"Some friend! She ran away after the war and hasn't bothered about us since," Ron grouched.

"Oh, the friend that you literally turned your back on at the end of the war? The friend that Harry and Ginny told to go away and leave them alone, without even checking if she had somewhere safe to be after the Final Battle? The friend who wrote to you every other week from the end of the war until she found out in the newspapers that you had got married and hadn't bothered even telling her about it, let alone inviting her? That friend?" asked Bill in a dangerous voice.

"If Hermione told you she wrote to us, then she's a liar," said Ron, ignoring the rest of Bill's justified and accurate rant.

"You dare call my mate a liar?" Bill growled, making Ron pale. Bill's inner wolf was very much to the fore with regard to protecting his mate, and this was quite frightening to his family.

"The Hermione we knew wouldn't have lied to us, but I've not received any letters from her," Harry explained reasonably.

George snorted loudly. "Hermione sends a packet of letters every two weeks. It goes to Luna and Neville first, and then it comes to me. We each take our letters out and send it onwards. All three of us can testify to having seen letters for you and Ron in those packets, Harry."

"Then why haven't we received them?"

Bill was looking at a red-faced Ginny. "Why don't you ask your wife that?" he snapped, making Ginny start in guilt.

"Ginny?" asked Harry in shock. "Did you take Hermione's letters?"

"I had to! She had too much influence over you. I had to keep her away from you," Ginny cried.

"By too much influence, I presume you mean that without Hermione's brains Harry would never have managed to achieve all that he did during his school years and the war?" asked George drily, looking at his sister in disgust.

"I only did it because I love you, Harry," said Ginny winsomely.

"And what about Ron's letters?" demanded Angelina, not fooled by Ginny's falsely sweet manner.

"That was for Lavender," said Ginny persuasively to Ron's wife. "You know she would only have interfered in your relationship with Ron. She hated it when you two dated back in your sixth year."

Lavender sighed. "It's true Hermione and I didn't get on well in school, and it's also true that neither of us handled it well when I was dating Ron back then. But that was a long time ago, Ginny. We've both grown up since. Hermione and Padma Patil are good friends, and Padma and Parvati have managed to make peace between Hermione and myself. The war taught us to value our friends, and I count Hermione as a friend now. Hermione even writes to me occasionally—when Padma writes to Parvati, Hermione sometimes includes a letter for Parvati to give to me. I didn't realise she had been writing to you and that you weren't getting the letters, Ron," she said, looking at her husband sincerely.

Ron just shrugged indifferently, Bill noted, while Harry appeared to be clamping down hard on his anger.

"Enough," said Arther wearily, observing Harry's displeasure at his wife's actions. "Harry, Ron, Ginny, this is between you three and you should talk it through on your own, without the entire family present. Bill, you and Hermione will always be welcome in this family."

"Thank you, Dad," said Bill warmly, ignoring his mother who was sputtering with indignation. "One last thing before we change the subject," he added, looking sternly at Ginny and Ron. "Hermione and I will be at Neville's wedding tomorrow. Do _not_ spoil his wedding. If you can't be civil to Hermione, then stay away from her." Bill figured that any trouble would more likely come from his hot-headed siblings than from their spouses. Although Harry had had quite a temper when he was younger, he was much more even natured since the removal of the Horcrux from his scar, and it did not seem that Lavender would cause problems.

"That girl is turning you against your family!" huffed Molly.

"In what way?" Bill demanded. "All I'm saying is Ron and Ginny shouldn't allow their own petty issues to spoil the wedding of someone who they supposedly regard as a good friend. Neville invited Hermione to his wedding, and it's not for them to approve or disapprove of her presence there. After the Final Battle, it was made clear to Hermione that she wasn't welcome at the Burrow and she had nowhere to go, so Madam Longbottom and Neville took her in and gave her somewhere safe to stay. Madam Longbottom helped Hermione in numerous ways—she even took Hermione to see her own Healer because Hermione was still suffering from the after-effects of having been tortured by Bellatrix Lestrange, something that would never have happened if Harry had refrained from saying Voldemort's name in a temper when he knew there was a taboo in place. Hermione is very fond of Augusta Longbottom, and she wants to be there to help Neville and Hannah celebrate their wedding. Hermione certainly has no intention of causing a scene at Neville's wedding; she'd never be so disrespectful after all that he and his grandmother did for her. I'm merely suggesting that Ron, Ginny and Harry adopt the same attitude."

With that, Bill firmly changed the subject and began talking to Percy and his wife, who until that time had been silent. Audrey had never met Hermione and Percy was not particularly interested in her.

The wedding went off without any trouble. Ron and Ginny both sniffed with offence when Hermione was welcomed as family by Neville and his grandmother, while Augusta treated them with impersonal civility. However, Harry and Lavender kept their spouses on a tight rein and with Bill hovering protectively over Hermione like her own, personal bodyguard, and glaring at them every time they came close, neither of the youngest two Weasley siblings dared approach Hermione. Harry flashed Hermione an apologetic smile and she smiled back encouragingly, but he did not come over to speak to her. Lavender rolled her eyes at Harry and promptly joined Parvati, Hermione and the other two girls who had been in their dorm in Hogwarts for a catch-up session.

All-in-all, the day had gone well, Hermione decided when she and Bill returned to Shell Cottage after the wedding. She regretted that Harry had not felt able to approach her but supposed that too much water had passed under the bridge. _'And he probably doesn't want any trouble with Ginny, either,'_ Hermione thought to herself snidely.

With the use of magic, it did not take Bill and Hermione long to clear out Shell Cottage. Some items were shrunk and packed to take with them to the States, some were sent to Fleur, and the rest was sold. Shell Cottage was so remote that Bill had not been sure how easy it would be to sell the property, but it was snapped up by one of Britain's top quidditch players, who was looking for a retreat away from his fans and the wizarding public.

Hermione did make one visit to the Burrow with Bill before they returned to Egypt, but it was not a success. Fortunately, George and Angelina were the only siblings there at the time, and they were very supportive of Hermione and Bill. Arthur had been welcoming but Molly had been extremely frosty. Hermione had treated Molly with polite diffidence, not feeling a need to butter up the Weasley matriarch.

"I'm happy to be polite to your mother. I'll even treat her with the respect due to my mate's mother. But I'm not going to grovel before her," Hermione declared, and Bill could only agree.

.o.O.o.

¹ miaminewtimes dot com / news / two-long-lost-maps-spark-a-quest-to-find-forgotten-pyramids-in-the-florida-swamps-6524337

² The concept of swamp dragons comes from _Alta_ by Mercedes Lackey, which is the second book in her Dragon Jousters series.


	7. Happily Ever After

**HAPPILY EVER AFTER**

Bill had sold his apartment in Egypt and he and Hermione spent a whirlwind couple of weeks packing it up ready for the move to the States. They had contracted a magical removal company to move their belongings from Egypt to their new home. Although they could easily shrink everything and carry it with them, they had Muggle neighbours and had to be seen to move into their new home the Muggle way—their neighbours would question the lack of a removal van. They even had cover stories for their employment. Hermione, for example, could easily say she was a librarian since this was also a Muggle profession, but this would invite questions as to where exactly she worked if not at the local library, therefore, she planned instead to say she was self-employed as a professional researcher working mostly from home thanks to the wonders of the internet; that way, she could portkey to work and no one would be surprised that they did not see her drive off to work in the morning. Bill, on the other hand, was going to claim he worked for an exclusive and hush-hush firm of security consultants, a believable cover story given the proximity of wealthy Naples to Cape Coral.

Hermione and Bill soon settled into their new lives. Bill found his work both challenging and interesting and Hermione loved working at the Magical Division of the Library of Congress. Some of the other married members of Bill's team had also chosen to live in a more child-friendly environment than a village which had been purpose-built to support a dragon reserve in the middle of the Everglades, and had followed them to Cape Coral. This gave them a good group of friends with whom they could socialise outside work without having to worry about accidentally giving away the secret of magic.

Despite the distance, Hermione managed to visit her parents at least once a week— _'Thank Merlin for magical travel,'_ she thought each time she made the journey—and they saw Charlie even more frequently. In fact, Hermione's parents had all but adopted Charlie and Aidan and the young couple could often be found visiting the Grangers even without Hermione and Bill's presence.

The next big hurdle for Bill and Hermione was planning their wedding. They both knew that Molly would expect it to take place at the Burrow, and that she would insist on taking over all the planning, but Hermione refused to allow her parents to become marginalised. "Mum and Dad want to be involved in planning the wedding of their only child," Hermione pointed out and Bill, who had already had a large wedding at the Burrow, agreed.

"I don't mind the wedding taking place in Britain—there's less of us to travel than there is of your family—but it won't be taking place at the Burrow," Hermione declared. "I have family and friends who are Muggles and I want them at my wedding. That means the wedding _can't_ be at the Burrow, it has to be less magical."

"How will you organise it from here?" Bill asked practically.

That was when Hermione had an idea. She knew that Lavender had found it hard to find work since having been bitten by Fenrir Greyback in the Final Battle. Lavender had since been helping out George at Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, but the bubbly witch was not wild about her job. Knowing the types of things that interested Lavender, Hermione contacted her friend to ask, "Would you be my wedding planner?"

"What's that?" Lavender wrote back.

"I guess it's a Muggle profession," Hermione replied in her next letter. "A wedding planner is a professional who assists with the design, planning and management of a client's wedding. Planning a wedding can be stressful, especially if the couple is working long hours or if they're planning their wedding from a distance, like Bill and I are. The extent to which the wedding planner is involved will vary from couple to couple. The advantage of using a wedding planner, rather than just leaving it all in Molly's hands, is that Bill and I would still be involved. For example, I'll tell you what colour and type of flowers we want for the table arrangements and you'll contact some florists. They'll give you prices and pictures of different styles of arrangements, you'll send that information to us, we'll decide which we want, let you know and you'll book it with the florist. Another example is that while I'll go looking for a wedding dress here in the States, I'll need you to supervise sourcing the bridesmaids' dresses, once I've decided on a colour, since they'll have to be bought in Britain." Hermione's bridesmaids were to be her two best friends, Luna Lovegood and Padma Patil. As a magizoologist, Luna travelled frequently but was based in Britain, while Padma had transferred back to Britain from Egypt not long after Bill and Hermione moved to the States.

After Hermione had explained in detail what she would need from Lavender, her soon-to-be sister-in-law immediately and gratefully jumped at the chance to plan Hermione and Bill's wedding, understanding perfectly well why Hermione would not want Molly to take over all the arrangements (Lavender had also had to contend with her well-meaning but over-bearing mother-in-law when planning her own wedding to Ron, after all) and what a brilliant opportunity Hermione was offering her. Lavender knew that planning a wedding would suit her exactly and was excited at the thought of making this into a career, should all go well with this first wedding.

Hermione smiled at Bill when she received Lavender's enthusiastic agreement. "Molly knows how hard it's been for Lavender to find employment, so we can present this to your mother as giving Lavender the opportunity to develop her own business," she remarked.

Bill grinned at his fiancée. "Mum can't object under those circumstances," he concurred, amused by his mate's hidden Slytherin nature.

Lavender did a superb job of planning the wedding. She even managed to achieve the impossible and find a venue that met Hermione and Bill's requirements. This was a venue owned by an enterprising Half-blood who had grown up in both the Muggle and the Wizarding worlds. The venue was used to weddings that had both magical and non-magical guests, and had procedures in place to hide magic, a necessary requirement since it was not at all unknown for magical guests to become careless after imbibing a bit too much good cheer.

The wedding went off without a hitch, despite the somewhat frosty attitude of Molly, Ginny and Ron Weasley towards the bride. Harry spent much of the reception hovering near Hermione, clearly wanting to talk to the bride, but not daring to risk incurring his wife's wrath, until Lavender rolled her eyes and grabbed Harry's hand, pulling him out of Ginny's tight grasp and over to Hermione. The former friends would never again be _best_ friends, but they did manage to clear the air and regain some degree of friendship. Harry finally put his foot down with his wife and made it clear that he would continue to be in touch with Hermione whether Ginny liked it or not. Harry may have supported his wife in public, but in private, he had made it known how angry he was over the purloined letters, his guilt over the knowledge that he had allowed himself to be distracted from any effort to contact Hermione himself making him all the more determined to stay in touch with Hermione now, regardless of his wife's opinion on the matter. Ginny went along with it because Hermione was now safely married and living on another continent, and so could no longer be a rival, as Ginny perceived it, for Harry's attention or affections.

Molly remained frosty until the birth of Hermione and Bill's first child. Bill did not know why Molly was like this but his wife remembered how easily Molly had believed Rita Skeeter's lies about her when Hermione had been a mere fifteen years old and had philosophically remarked that sometimes one person dislikes another for no rational or specific reason and there is nothing that can be done about it. It helped that Charlie finally decided to come clean with his family and redirected some of Molly's wrath in his direction by announcing his relationship with Aidan. Molly's displeasure was not because of Charlie's choice of life partner, rather it was because it meant that Charlie would not be providing her with grandchildren; fortunately, the Weasley matriarch was speedily distracted from her woes on that subject when Bill informed his family of Hermione's pregnancy.

When they were discussing baby names during the pregnancy, Hermione had asked Bill if he would like to name the child after Fred if it was a boy but her husband had sadly replied that it was for George to name a child in his twin's honour. They chose boy and girl names they liked but when their daughter was born, Hermione threw the planned girl's name out the window.

"Bill, what do you think about calling her Winifred?" Hermione suggested, her eyes shining with love for the tiny baby cradled in her arms. "The name begins with W, just like her daddy's name. And it's not Frederica, so we're not naming her directly after Fred, but it's still in Fred's honour in a roundabout sort of way."

Leaning down to kiss his wife lovingly, Bill agreed happily. Molly adored little Winnie, as she came to be called, and the choice of name did much to reconcile Molly to her daughter-in-law, after Bill had made it clear just whose idea the choice of name was.

Hugo was born when Winnie was two and it was Bill who suggested his son's name. He liked the meaning, which was bright in mind and spirit, and in the same way that Winnie's name began with W in her daddy's honour, Bill wanted their son's name to begin with H in his mummy's honour¹.

Their family was completed with the birth of Elaine a year and a half after Hugo. Hermione had suggested they choose an Arthurian name, as per Weasley tradition, and Bill thought Elaine would be appropriate. Not only was that an Arthurian name but it was actually Scottish for Helen, which was Hermione's mother's name. "This way, both our families are honoured in one name," Bill said and Hermione happily agreed that this name would be perfect for their younger daughter.

When Winnie was ten years old, the family moved back to Britain. Not only did Bill and Hermione want their children to attend Hogwarts, but they had both been offered positions in their Alma mater. Madam Pince, the school librarian of their youth, was desperate to retire and the school was frantically looking for a new librarian who would be magically powerful enough to constrain the collection and keep it under the rigid control required by such a large magical collection; so far no one suitable had been found. When the Hogwarts Professor of Ancient Runes, Bathsheba Babbling, also decided to retire shortly afterwards, the Headmistress, Minerva McGonagall, decided to approach the couple. With Hermione's Mastery in Magical Librarianship and Bill's Mastery in Ancient Runes, which he had undertaken during his years at Gringotts, it was as though it was fated for Hermione and Bill to accept positions in Hogwarts.

When Hermione's parents decided to retire to Britain shortly after Hermione and Bill's return to the country of their birth, John and Helen Granger acted on a suggestion from Harry and bought a home in Godric's Hollow, a mixed magical and non-magical village. As non-magicals, John and Helen were unable to see Hogwarts, nor was it permitted for them to be connected to the floo network. However, whenever Winnie, Hugo and Elaine wanted to visit their grandparents, it was easy enough for the children to floo from Hogwarts to one of Helen and John's magical neighbours and then walk the short distance to their grandparents' home. Hermione and Bill later bought a home in Godric's Hollow for use during the school holidays, when they wanted to escape from Hogwarts or spend more time with their extended families.

Bill and Hermione were blissfully happy together and if they were not close to all of Bill's siblings, their children mixed with their cousins indiscriminately. Looking at his wife and children, Bill could only be grateful that despite the efforts made by Molly to get him to remarry again quickly after his divorce, he had held out until he had found his mate.

.o.O.o.

¹ It took me quite a while to realise that JRK named Ron and Hermione's children in that manner: Rose beginning with R for Ron and Hugo beginning with H for Hermione. I know a lot of people don't like the name Hugo, but I do actually like it, so I'm keeping it, I'm afraid.

A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed, favourited and followed this story.


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